Doorways
by Moonbutton
Summary: Just a different perspective, maybe?


i) I sto.. er borrowed some lines from an episode for this story. They are not mine they belong to the writers/creators/network.   
  
ii) Okay, 'Keys'. What a great episode, must be a classic - for various reasons. I read on a site that this was Mr. Parker's first appearance so I checked out the episode again in a whole new light and kinda came up with this as a result.   
  
iii) 'It depends on whose doorway you walk through, to find the truth'.  
  
Doorways  
  
I make my way to my office, absorbing the strange atmosphere that exists in The Centre. The mix of fear, power, corruption and, in abundance, ignorance. I receive a few glances from employees, my return is unexpected and I hope to use that to my advantage. You see this game is all about power and I hold a great deal of that commodity - though it has come at a price. I have had to spend some time in Africa dealing with the Triumverate. Or placating them at the very least, I like to tell them what they want to hear, not necassarily the truth. I hold most of the cards, the ones of the highest value; Jarod, Ethan, Gemini, the scrolls...  
  
Things were going great until Jarod escaped taking one of our lesser pretenders with him. And injuring Alex along the way. Eddie is no great loss to The Centre but Jarod is our jewel in the crown and this king is not happy about the state of his headgear. I consented to let the Triumverate take Alex off my hands, without Jarod there is no real need for him. I can take him back once project Gemini comes to fruition, as long as Raines doesn't screw him up like he did Angelo.  
  
As I approach my office I can hear two familiar voices: Raines and my daughter, and I am unsure which one I am more pleased to see. Raines will take any opportunity to assume control of The Centre, my abscence has been an open invitation to him. Sometimes I fear my brother is more power hungry than me. I quickly pick up the theme of the conversation and it doesn't sound good. Next time I'll let the Triumverate come to me.  
  
"I was looking for answers. About how she died."  
  
"Your mother shot herself", I announce as I walk into my office. My Angel turns round to face me and I can see she is surprised to see me.   
  
"Daddy!"  
  
"Leave us Mr Raines." He retreats out of the office, I will have to have a 'word' with him later about this. She stands there in a state of shock. "Don't I get a hug?" This brings her to life and she complies with my request. It's all too easy to manipulate her, I've had plenty of practice over the years. "Been too long. So how are things at the summer house? Are the leaves coming back?"   
  
"Slowly. You know how spring can be up there."   
  
She looks unconvinced at my attempt at small talk, I wonder exactly what she has found out about Catherine. "Stubborn. Your mother always got impatient." I've tried to make my Angel understand that being like her mother, being emotional and compassionate, will lead to your downfall at The Centre. To survive at The Centre you have to be able to make those choices that, normally, feelings would prevent you from making.  
  
"I don't remember that about her but I do remember this."  
  
She produces a police report, the one that happened after her beating, after that Thanksgiving. The pieces are beginning to fall into place now and I can understand why she is upset. At least I know what I'm up against now and I can start some damage control. I turn away from her and study the report a little. Seeing Catherine's face, that beating, brings back memories of that night. She brought it on herself really, she just wouldn't see sense. And I was too weak to do anything about it. "You look like her. Watching you, in some ways she never left."  
  
"Daddy I want to know what happened to my mother."  
  
I think it's time to end this. After everything I've done for her - for Catherine - this is how she repays me. I've kept her safe all these years, as Catherine would have wished. If Raines had his way she'd be down in the labs with all the other 'experiments'. I've made her who she is to keep her safe and digging up the past is going to destroy all my work. "I'm disappointed in you", I shout out.   
  
"You're disappointed in me?", she asks increduously.  
  
I turn back round to face her. "Don't tell me you believe this crap?" She surely can't remember that night, I had that taken care of.  
  
"But I remember that Thanksgiving. The fight that you had. And a few months later she was dead."   
  
I can hear the distress in her voice, the emotion. "No. Don't let your emotions run away with you, I taught you better."  
  
"Just tell me what happened."  
  
I suppose I should tell her something. "I killed her." She looks at me in disbelief. Something my grandfather taught me was that the best lies have a grain of truth in them and that advice has served me well. And in a way I did kill her. "At least that's what I torture myself believing. When someone you love commits suicide you search for answers to the mystery you don't understand. That's what you're doing now." She turns away from me and sits down. This is a dangerous subject, too many secrets that will destroy her are at stake.  
  
"I miss her."  
  
She looks so lost at this moment part of me wants to comfort her but I can't. I can't show any emotion - I'm a Parker. "You were young, no way you could know what she was going through. I didn't know why she left us. Don't you think I miss her too?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"You can believe your father or Jarod. Who's it going to be?" She rises from her seat and walks towards me.  
  
"Daddy I want a new assignment. Jarod is Sydney's mess and Mr Raines', please put me back in corporate."  
  
I can't do that. I need her to prove her loyalty to me, to The Centre. This will all be hers and I need to know she is up to it. "We have our arrangement." One that I won't keep.  
  
"I know."  
  
Damn Jarod and his interfering, making her second guess herself and me. "You were a quiet, uncertain little girl. And now you're this," I take her face in my hands, it's a little trick I've used over the years only affecting contact to get my way, "this presence. It's time for my treasure to shine. I know what you're capable of."  
  
"Do you?"  
  
Of course I do. The look of disbelief on her face sets me wondering exactly how much she knows about her own capabilities. "I do and our deal stands." She nods her head in agreement, composes her face and excuses herself. I let her go though it's with some uncertainty. Since Jarod's escape I have noticed some changes to our relationship, it's as if she's seeing The Centre in a whole new light. I wonder what else Jarod has been telling her. Or maybe she was shielded too much in corporate, too many numbers. It was almost as if she was that ten year old girl again, the one I had to mold and shape. The one I taught to turn her back on the 'experiments'. Maybe it's my fault? I agreed to let her get involved with Jarod all those year ago. And now it could be my downfall.  
  
There are worse things that Jarod can dig up, about her mother, about The Centre. I make a mental note to check our security arrangements, though the pretender won't be kept out for long. And how many other clues has Catherine left out there for our daughter? I managed to keep her away from them but I never counted on Jarod finding them. She won't understand the choices I made, the things that I had to do - it was all about survival, hers and mine. I've protected her the only way I know how, the only way I was sure of. I will make her understand.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I watch the screen with growing concern. The hurricane has Jarod trapped and we can't afford to lose our prized possession. And my Angel is in there somewhere. There has been no word from her since Raines sent her into the hurricane's path. The Centre can't afford to lose either of them but it worries me what else Jarod will drag up from the past whilst she is there.   
  
I can hear someone enter my office, from the reflection in the screen I can see it's Sydney. "You heard from her?" I have an act to upkeep where Sydney is concerned, Hell where everyone is concerned these days. Sydney has been around too long, he may already know too much.  
  
"No. I'm concerned."  
  
"So am I." I don't think Sydney has ever condoned my treatment of my daughter - or of Jarod for that matter.   
  
"Mr Raines ordered her into that."  
  
No, I had Raines order her into that. "Do you have a problem with Raines?"  
  
"He is out of control."  
  
"Raines isn't, Jarod is." His lab rat is out there running wild, Sydney cares too much about him. We suspected for some time that he was getting too attached to Jarod but it was too risky to switch jarod to another handler, least of all Raines who had coveted the position for some time. The bond had already been made between them. And it's proved quite useful since Jarod's escape, not that we've been able to return him, it's kept him on our radar. "Tormenting my daughter with lies about her mother."  
  
"Lies?"   
  
"You saw her last, you knew her condition. Her only option was suicide." She wouldn't agree to our plans. I begged her to, I really did. I knew what the consequenses would be. Would have to be. I couldn't risk her destroying everything my grandfather had built up. She was going to ruin everything and as much as I loved her I couldn't let that happen. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been easier if she had committed suicide. In some obscure way I guess she did, by following her conscience I was left with no other option. I pleaded with her not to interfere, I knew what the consequences would be even though I could never enforce them personally. She rescued the children and openly condemned project Gemini. It was the beginning of the end. We grew further apart, I lost all control of her. Then came the threats from the Triumverate and I did my best to hold them off but Raines was in their pockets even back then. When Catherine found out about the scrolls and was in contact with Jarod's parents I was forced to make the decision. To let her go. I couldn't do it myself so I had Raines take care of her. I owed her better than that.  
  
"Mrs Parker, God rest her soul, was manic depressive. Her marriage was falling apart and, of course, there was the question of her beating."  
  
Sydney thought he knew Catherine but I suspect she didn't tell him everything. He wouldn't have been able to stay if she had. "Exactly what else did she say about that?"  
  
"I can't disclose that, but you know psychiatrists Mr Parker, we write everything down."  
  
"So do I."  
  
"Your wife was my patient, details of her sessions are privileged."  
  
"I have privileges Sydney."  
  
"I'm well aware of that."  
  
"Anything else doctor?"  
  
"No."  
  
As Sydney leaves the room I turn back towards the screen. I shall be keeping a closer watch on Sydney in the future too.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"She has no excuse."  
  
"There was a hurricane, Raines." Raines and I are discussing the latest failure regarding Jarod. And Raines is putting on the pressure, as usual, to take my daughter off the pursuit. Another close call with Jarod and I must admit I am beginning to wonder if we will ever bring Jarod home. I wonder why I put up with Raines, apart from the fact he is my brother. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, maybe?  
  
"How many times is she going to lose him? How much longer are you going to let this happen?"  
  
"You know she is the best way to get Jarod back to The Centre." Maybe my daughter's resemblance to Catherine unsettles him, like it unsettles me. If she begins to behave like Catherine too we will have real problems.  
  
"He calls her at home, he leaves messages for her wherever he's been and now he's digging up the past!"  
  
"We knew he would. We initiated that bond between them and now we can use it to our advantage. I trained her not to trust him and she won't. Jarod on the other hand will do all he can to convince her otherwise and that will keep him on our radar."  
  
"And what if he manages to persuade her? We will lose two valuable projects. You couldn't control Catherine, what makes you so sure you can control her daughter?"  
  
"Damn it Raines! I have trained her to hate him and to trust me. She won't believe him, even if it's the truth."  
  
I sit down at my desk and Raines remains stood at my side. Secrets and lies, that what The Centre runs on. My brother understands that but I won't let him do to my daughter what he did to my wife. I asked my Angel to report straight to me and she is due soon. We need time to cool down and present a united front.  
  
"I was close and I learned a few things that are going to get me even closer."   
  
She announces this as she strides confidently into my office, looking and acting more like I want her to be, like I need her to be. "The status quo remains?"  
  
"We have our deal, but it's not quite status quo."  
  
"How so?" Whatever it is I'm not going to uphold my end of the deal anyway.  
  
She leans over to Raines and blocks his oxygen line with her fingers. "No more surveillance. No more lie detectors. No more games. You second guess my work again and I'll put a bullet in that pet oxygen tank and they'll have to clean you up with tweezers. I catch Jarod my way and once he's in The Centre I'm gone. That's the deal, are we clear?"  
  
"As a bell." I stifle my feelings of pride at this sight. Raines is struggling for breath and my daughter is simply breathtaking. My treasure is shining.  
  
"I'll see you later Daddy."  
  
I stand up to reciprocate her kiss goodbye - a reward for the display I have just witnessed. "Good to have you back", I call out as I watch her leave my office. I sit back down with some satisfaction. I allow myself a smile: for the way I can manipulate her; for the way Raines is still struggling to regain his breathing; and for the way things are turning out. My only fear is that may turn out to be a short term solution to an ongoing situation. 


End file.
